Samsung Galaxy S III has Pentile AMOLED screen

Sorry, videophiles – that rumor that the Galaxy S III will be using a non-Pentile display turned out to be false. It’s using the same Pentile Matrix technology that previous Samsung phones (among others) relied on. We had heard that the new Samsung flagship would use the sharper and more expensive “Super AMOLED HD+” layout (i.e. a standard pixel grid) but we can confirm here at the Mobile Unpacked event that this is not the case.

If you don’t know what the big deal is, it has to do with the way that pixels are displayed on a screen. The standard pixel grid for LCD screens uses red, green and blue sub-pixels for each pixel, combining the colors in different intensities to create a value for each pixel. In a Pentile Matrix layout, each green sub-pixel shares a red and blue sub-pixel with those around it, creating a picture that’s less sharp. According to some, this lowers the screen fidelity by about 30%, at least on a technical level.

There’s no doubt that the 4.8-inch 720p screen on the Galaxy S III is brilliant, thanks in no small part to Samsung’s Super AMOLED display technology. It’s also got a much smaller bezel and saves on battery life versus the model on the Galaxy S II. But those who have a problem with Pentile displays (a small but vocal contingent) may be better served by other phones, like HTC’s One X with a 4.7-inch 720p screen with a standard LCD. For more breaking news, be sure to keep an eye on our Galaxy S III page.